In the Air
by Banana Belle
Summary: In chapter two, Caitlin skips again, but this time, well read to find out.
1. It begins

*This is my second shot at a Caitlin's Way story, if you haven't read the first one please spare yourself and don't. This story is set during the first season, prior to Griffin's cabin and his driving. Enjoy, and reviews are welcomed.  
  
Caitlin opened her eyes to the sun pouring through the window. She groaned and rolled out of bed. Deciding what to wear was another issue. She put on her favorite jeans, but she couldn't decide on a shirt. Then she saw the perfect one on the floor. It was Griffin's shirt; she had taken it from him last week. She slid it over her head and went to face the day.  
  
"Good morning, Caitlin," Dori said pleasantly.  
  
"Morning," Caitlin mumbled.  
  
Caitlin proceeded to rummage through the cabinets until she found a box of cereal that looked satisfying. She poured a bowl and sat down at the table. Jim came in the room, as he made final adjustments on his collar.  
  
"What is there to eat this morning?" he asked.  
  
"Whatever you make," Dori told her husband.  
  
He picked up the box that Caitlin had taken her breakfast from. "This almost entirely sugar," he stated.  
  
"That's what makes it taste so good," Caitlin said with her mouth full.  
  
"I guess I'll try some," Jim said and he proceeded to pour himself a bowl.  
  
Jim and Caitlin were eating the last their cereal when Griffin entered the kitchen.  
  
"Mom, do you think I could go camping this weekend?" he asked.  
  
"With who?" Dori questioned.  
  
"Just some friends, you know Eric and Brett," Griffin said coolly.  
  
"I don't know if want you out there alone, Griff," Dori told him.  
  
"Well, can you think about?" he asked.  
  
"I'll think about it, but I'm not making any promises," she said. "You two better get going, or you'll miss the bus," Dori stated.  
  
Caitlin set her bowl in the sink and grabbed her backpack, and Griffin gave his mom one last "pretty please" look. They ran out to the bus stop, but they were too late; the bus was already driving away.  
  
They walked back to the house in silence, neither one wanted to be the first one inside. This would make the third day in a row of bus missing, and Jim said if it happened again, they would be walking to school. He wasn't serious of course, but it was something they didn't want to deal with him.  
  
"Griffin," Caitlin called.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"It's such a nice day; it's a shame we'll have to waste in that stuffy old school," she stated.  
  
"No way, I'm a good student. I don't cut classes," Griffin explained.  
  
"Come on, live a little," she teased.  
  
"I do need to work on my web site," he thought aloud.  
  
"Come on, it'll fun I promise, and you can forge us excuse notes for tomorrow," Caitlin said with a smile.  
  
"It is pretty fool prove. Mom is going to be in another county all day," he admitted.  
  
"See," she told him. Caitlin began walking towards the fields.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked.  
  
"We have to wait for the 'rents to leave before we can go back home," she explained.  
  
"They're going to find, they always find out," he said.  
  
"Quit being a baby, the only way they can find out is if you or I tell them, and we aren't going to do that," she told him.  
  
They walked until the house was no longer visible, and they sat down beside a tree. Caitlin fell asleep within a few minutes, sleep came to Griffin shortly after. The sun was nearly overhead when Caitlin shook him awake.  
  
"Come on, they left along time ago," she told him.  
  
"I don't know why I go along with your plans," Griffin complained.  
  
"Because, I'm fun," she said. Caitlin started to run towards the house, Griffin followed her.  
  
"Yeah," Griffin mumbled under his breath. Caitlin turned on the TV and began to channel surf. "This is the life," she thought.  
  
Griffin turned on his computer, he was glad to be getting some time off from school. He deserved it.  
  
~~~~~~ In Town ~~~~~~  
  
Jim pulled his jeep in front of the school. There were students all over the school grounds. Jim walked over to the principle and asked, "What's going on?"  
  
"Sheriff Lowe, there are pips bursting all over the building most of the school is covered in six inches of water," he explained.  
  
"You're sending the students home?" Jim questioned.  
  
"Yes, I have to, don't know how long it will take to get rid of all the water," he said.  
  
Jim left the principle to look for Caitlin and Griffin. He paced through the crowd several times, but he didn't see them. The students were thinning in numbers, so Jim decided to check the diner.  
  
Brett and Taylor were sitting at the counter.  
  
"Have either of you seen Griffin and Caitlin?" he asked.  
  
"No," Brett answered.  
  
"All right, if you do let them know I'm looking for them," Jim told them.  
  
"Sure thing," Brett responded.  
  
Jim left and spent the rest of the afternoon in his office. When he was ready to leave there was still no sign of Griffin or Caitlin. He was sure they would come find him for a ride.  
  
"Oh well," Jim told himself and he headed home.  
  
He pulled up in front of the house, and Griffin spotted him first.  
  
"My dad is here," he told Caitlin.  
  
"Yeah so what?" she asked.  
  
"We're going to get busted," Griffin told her.  
  
"Shut up and let me do the talking," Caitlin said just as Jim opened the door.  
  
"So you guys did get home," Jim stated.  
  
"Uhh yeah we sure did," Caitlin responded. She was confused.  
  
"Was the flood exciting?" Jim asked.  
  
"Flood?" Griffin questioned. Caitlin kicked his leg and shot him the look of death.  
  
"The big flood at school," Jim replied.  
  
"It was all right," Caitlin answered.  
  
Jim left the two alone.  
  
"You almost ruined it," Caitlin whispered.  
  
"You didn't need to kick me," he said.  
  
"Yes, I did," she stated.  
  
"You're wearing my shirt," he said just having noticed.  
  
Caitlin just went to her room with a grin on her face; they had gotten away with it. 


	2. So Slick

Caitlin set her camera on her lap, and she proceeded to wipe a week's worth of dust of it. She could believe it had been that long since she had snapped her last photograph. Today was the perfect day to ride Bandit to the river and then take some shots of him in the wild. She quickly reassembled her pride and joy and headed to the barn.  
  
Bandit greeted her, eager to get some exercise. She had the saddle on in record time was soon riding him across the open fields. Nothing makes you feel freer than galloping on a horse on a warm spring day. Caitlin forgot about all the bad things going on in her life. She even forgot about the bad grades. Caitlin and Bandit enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together and headed home only when night began to fall.  
  
Caitlin stepped into the house to the aroma of baking lasagna.  
  
"Dori, dinner smells wonderful," Caitlin stated.  
  
"Thank you, Caitlin," Dori answered.  
  
"Oh, and Griff wanted to know when the grub was going to be done," Caitlin added.  
  
"Fifteen minutes," Dori replied.  
  
"All right, I'll tell him," Caitlin said going back outside to find Griffin.  
  
"Dinner in 15," Caitlin told her cousin. "Have you made our sick notes yet?"  
  
"No, I haven't made mine yet, and I wasn't planning on making yours," Griffin stated.  
  
"You have too," she pleaded.  
  
"I don't have to do anything, especially for you," he said.  
  
"I'll remember this next time you ask me for a favor," Caitlin replied.  
  
"That's fine because I'll never ask you for any favors," he responded.  
  
"I helped you get out of going to school today," Caitlin explained.  
  
"No, you tried to lead me down your delinquent path," he contradicted.  
  
"Griff, get a life," she told him. "Oh, by the way, my excuse will be a thousand times better than yours." Caitlin turned away and headed back towards the house.  
  
"We'll just see about that," he called after her.  
  
Caitlin chose to ignore him, she kept walking. At dinner, Griffin wouldn't stop talking. Caitlin sat quietly in the background. She asked if she could be excused before everyone else was finished.  
  
"What's the rush?" Jim asked.  
  
"Homework, I don't want to get behind again," Caitlin explained. This wasn't a lie she had two pages of math, an essay, and a lab report to write. She set to work on the math first, which she finished in less than an hour. Halfway through her essay she laid her head on her desk and fell asleep.  
  
The next thing Caitlin knew it was morning again. She woke up with a start and tried to recall what had happened. It came to her in a flash. "Oh, no," she groaned. This wasn't going to be good. She only had a few choices be to school and tell her teachers the truth, beg Dori to let her stay home, or she could just skip again.  
  
The first one wasn't appealing; the second didn't seem likely, so Caitlin decided the third choice was her only choice. She changed her clothes and went down stairs. She was running late.  
  
"Bye," she called into the kitchen.  
  
"Caitlin, are you going to eat breakfast?" Dori asked.  
  
"No, I'm late," Caitlin answered.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll just have Jim drive you," Dori explained.  
  
"No, really it's fine," Caitlin insisted.  
  
"All right," Dori said giving up.  
  
Caitlin walked out the door and down the driveway. She kept walking until she thought it was safe to hide.  
  
Griffin was waiting at the end of the driveway for the bus. He looked back every few seconds to see if Caitlin was coming. The bus appeared over the horizon, and there was still no sign of Caitlin. "Oh, well at least I'm not late again," he said to himself shrugging it off.  
  
Caitlin waited for Jim and Dori to leave. Jim left around 7:30, but Dori was still there around 11:00. By this point, Caitlin was hungry and bored. She decided it would be safe to take Bandit for a ride. Dori rarely went into the barn during the day, and she probably wouldn't notice if Bandit were missing.  
  
Dori finished cleaning the bathroom and was about to leave when she noticed Caitlin's door ajar. She looked in to see Caitlin's math book sitting on the floor. Dori picked it up and decided to bring to the school on her way to see a cow on the other side of Highriver.  
  
Dori entered the office of the school. The secretary looked up at her.  
  
"I'm dropping off a book for Caitlin Seager," Dori said.  
  
"Seager, Seager," the secretary repeated as she flipped through an index. "Caitlin Seager isn't in school today."  
  
"Could you check again?" Dori asked.  
  
"Yes, she is right here on the absence list," the secretary reported.  
  
"Thank you," Dori replied.  
  
She left the school rather confused, and she drove to the sheriff's office. Jim was outside talking with a deputy when she arrived. The deputy left soon after.  
  
"Hey you," he said giving his wife a kiss.  
  
"I'm glad to see you too, but," Dori started say.  
  
"What is it?" Jim asked knowing this wasn't going to be good.  
  
"I went to drop Caitlin's math book off at the school, and she wasn't there," Dori told him.  
  
"Emm," Jim groaned, "and you have work to do and need me to find her."  
  
"Exactly," Dori answered.  
  
"I'll have a look around town and then go house," Jim said.  
  
"Thank you," she replied.  
  
"Not a problem, I needed to do some driving today," he joked.  
  
~~~~~~ At the House ~~~~~~  
  
Caitlin was working on homework on the floor with her headphones over her ears. She was amazed how fast the work was coming along, now that all the pressure was off. She was trying to decided on a closing sentence for her essay, when Jim opened her bed room door.  
  
Caitlin looked up and the color left her fast. She was dead; there was no one to get herself out of this one. She raised the headphones from her ears and waited for Jim to say something.  
  
"Caitlin," he started to say, "Why? What are doing?"  
  
"My homework," she told him.  
  
"You're supposed to be in school," Jim exclaimed. "Dori went to bring your math book to you, but you weren't in school."  
  
"And you're supposed to be at work," Caitlin muttered under her breath.  
  
"You're grounded, and we aren't through talking about this," he said.  
  
"Aren't you going to let me explain," she asked.  
  
"What is there to explain? You are supposed to be at school, and you aren't at school," he replied.  
  
"Fine, I don't care either," she said slamming an open schoolbook closed.  
  
"Stay in your room for now," Jim told her.  
  
He left, and Caitlin sat on her bed. She smashed her face into the pillow before tears started to roll down her cheeks.  
  
Jim stood in the middle of the kitchen. He didn't know what to do. Was he supposed to yell at her? Was he supposed to talk to her? He decided to wait until Dori came home, so he wouldn't screw this up. 


End file.
